Economic Outlook: Difference between revisions

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=== 2. Housing Market Activity ===
=== 2. Housing Market Activity ===
Housing accounts for a significant portion of investment spending by American households and overall economic activity.  And has a significant impact on other industries, including labor, construction, raw materials, consumer durables, banking, and real estate. According to Leamer<ref>https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w13428/w13428.pdf</ref>, in its research paper he shows that it is residential investment that contributes most to weakness before recessions. In six of the ten recessions since 1950, residential investment was the greatest contributor to weakness prior to the recession with an average contribution of 22% of weakness in gdp 1 year prior to the recession. And that an unusual residential investment contribution to GDP growth in one quarter predicts twice as much contribution from some other sector the next quarter.
Housing accounts for a significant portion of investment spending by American households and overall economic activity.  And has a significant impact on other industries, including labor, construction, raw materials, consumer durables, banking, and real estate. According to Leamer<ref>https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w13428/w13428.pdf</ref>, in six of the ten recessions since 1950, residential investment was the greatest contributor to weakness prior to the recession with an average contribution of 22% of weakness in gdp 1 year prior to the recession. And that an unusual residential investment contribution to GDP growth in one quarter predicts twice as much contribution from some other sector the next quarter.


In the residential investment data displayed in Figure 12 there is one false positive in 1951-2 and another in 1966 -67. In both cases housing was weakening substantially but there was no recession. Why is that? Those two false positives occurred coincidentally with a big ramp-up in defense spending for the Korean War and the Vietnam War.  Alarms of forthcoming recessions that were met by a response that prevented the recessions from occurring.  
In the residential investment data displayed in Figure 12 there is one false positive in 1951-2 and another in 1966 -67. In both cases housing was weakening substantially but there was no recession. Why is that? Those two false positives occurred coincidentally with a big ramp-up in defense spending for the Korean War and the Vietnam War.  Alarms of forthcoming recessions that were met by a response that prevented the recessions from occurring.  
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Current data:
Current data:


# Pending home sales in the US plummeted by 37% year-on-year in October of 2022, the sharpest yearly decline on record. <ref>https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/pending-home-sales</ref>
# Pending Home Sales in the United States decreased 33.80 percent year-on-year in December of 2022. <ref>https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/pending-home-sales</ref>
# Building permits in the United States tumbled 10.6 percent from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.351 million in November 2022, the lowest level since June 2020. Builsing permits is down 30% since peak in dec 2021. <ref>https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/building-permits</ref>
# Building permits in the United States rose 0.1% from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.3 million in January 2023, hovering close to the lowest since May 2020. Building permits is down 30% since peak in dec 2021. <ref>https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/building-permits</ref>
# Real residential investment GDP on Q3 2022 was -27.1%<ref>https://www.bea.gov/sites/default/files/2022-12/gdp3q22_3rd.pdf</ref>
# Real residential investment GDP on Q4 2022 was -26.7%<ref>https://www.bea.gov/sites/default/files/2023-01/gdp4q22_adv.pdf</ref>
# The NAHB housing market index in the US declined to 31 in December of 2022, a fresh low since 2012 excluding the immediate onset of the pandemic. <ref>https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/nahb-housing-market-index</ref>
# The NAHB housing market index in the US declined to a low of 31 in December of 2022, it has recover to 42 in recent months, but still at a low level historically<ref>https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/nahb-housing-market-index</ref>


In conclusion, since housing activity is the biggest driver in weakness in gdp prior to the recession, its success in predicting a recession, the fact that there is a low probability that there will be massive stimilus to avoid a recession due to the FED narrative and their figh against inflation, and that the significant decline in activty started in Q2 2022, there is a high likehood that relying on this indicators the recession risks in the US economy are amplify significant in Q2 2023 onwards.
Since housing activity is the biggest driver in weakness in gdp prior to the recession, its success in predicting a recession, the fact that there is a low probability that there will be massive stimilus to avoid a recession due to the FED narrative and their fight against inflation, and the significant decline in activity that started in Q2 2022, there is a high likelihood that the recession risks in the US economy are amplified significantly in Q2 2023 onwards.


=== 3. Conference Board Leading Index ===
=== 3. Conference Board Leading Index ===